food history
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Did Feminism Kill Home Cooking?
Some critics have blamed feminism for the lack of home cooking today and the increased reliance on convenience food. (Isn’t it sad that feminism is blamed for so much and rarely given credit for what feminism helped women achieve.) Perhaps the most vocal of these was food writer Michael Pollan who wrote in a 2009 essay in the New York Times. He wrote that one of the reasons that women do not cook was that women went to work. In his New York Times essay, he also described Betty Friedan’s 1963 The Feminine Mystiqueas the book that taught millions of American women to regard housework, cooking included, as drudgery, indeed…
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Food Editor Nadine Bradley
I just found this great 1938 story about Nadine Bradley who was the food editor at the Omaha World-Herald. In the article, it is noted that Bradley had a degree from the University of Missouri and had already been a reporter for 13 years. More than 200,000 women read her column. The story was due to Bradley being in Miami with her husband for a visit. She likely hired Maude Coons who I wrote about in my book about food editors.
- food editors, food history, food journalism, journalism ethics, journalism history, Peggy Daum, ruth gray
Our Gatronomica Article Is Out
Our article about newspaper food sections and journalism is out. Our investigation looked at the accusations against food editors by Senator Frank Moss and found them baseless. It also highlights the work of food journalists Peggy Daum, at the Milwaukee Journal, and Ruth Gray, of the St. Pete Times, as well as the creation of what is now called the Association of Food Journalists. Here is a link to it.
- Dorothy Chapman, Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food history, journalism history, Top Food Editors
Top Food Editors: Day 29 & Dorothy Chapman
Day 29 of Top Food Editors features Dorothy Chapman. She had been the women’s page editor at the Orlando Sentinel when Barr was the food editor. When Barr retired in 1969, Chapman became the food editor. In 1971, Chapman became the first restaurant editor at the newspaper. She wrote several cookbooks based on her column, “Thought You’d Never Ask.” According to her obituary: “As the Orlando Sentinel’s first restaurant critic, Chapman wielded her pen and fork with a civil tongue. “We [chefs] gave her a lot of respect because she gave us a lot of respect,” said longtime Orlando restaurateur Major Jarman. “She was fair. Everyone took her comments as…
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Top Food Editors: Day 27 & Eleanor Ostman
Day 27 of Top Food Editors features Eleanor Ostman. She graduated from Macalester College’s journalism program and wrote about home furnishings before covering food at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. At the time, she was a young wife without much cooking experience. She wrote about her family’s love of a dish or a disaster that she had in the kitchen. She initiated a recipe column “This Sunday” that ran for more than 25 years. She is known for having lunch with Paul Newman after winning his recipe contest. She was often confused with her counterpart at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who had a similar name. She was married to Ron Aune…
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Top Food Editors: Day 25 & Julie Benell
Day 25 of Top Food Editors features Julie Benell. Julie Benell, a reporter and editor on food who worked 25 years at the Dallas Morning News. Benell, a native of San Antonio, was a former concert pianist who switched to the stage and later to performances on radio and television. She was the author of several cookbooks, including the popular Let’s Eat at Home. She had a daily television show about food and fashion for 15 years while she was at the newspaper. It was her show that was interrupted when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. She judged the 1962 great national Cookout Championship for Men Only in Hawaii,…